Saturday, September 29, 2007

Total sales of the 6 books on the Booker shortlist120,770Sales of Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach110,615Leaving total sales for the other 5 books on the shortlist 10,155

I know. I found it hard to believe too.

But it gets a whole lot more depressing when you add in this figure:

Sales of Crystal by Katie Price aka Jordan 159,407

How many times do I have to say it?

Don't write because you believe you'll achieve fame and fortune from your books.Not unless you already have said f&f for some other achievement -- like having surgically enhanced breasts and being married to an Australian one hit wonder.

Wherever I am – in the supermarket, on public transport, at the school gates –

I’m watching you ...

I check your mannerisms …

I eavesdrop on your conversations …

I imagine your story.

I’m fascinated by you.

(Not scaring you, am I?)

I’m also pathologically empathetic

In Real Life this can be a hindrance.

I see where you’re coming from even when you’re being vile to me.

This means I’ll often end up putting your needs before my own.

But as a writer I reckon it enables me to think myself inside someone else’s skin and create believable characters.

(Though if you don’t agree, I’ll understand of course …)

I’m a natural story teller

My life is strung together like a series of anecdotes.

I can go on for hours (and frequently do) conjuring up tales from my past or from family history.

It’s part of the oral tradition and I have endless fascination for hearing other people’s stories too.

And I’m an avid reader

I know some people say they can’t read other people’s books while writing their own but that’s not the case for me.Since I first toddled my way round the shelves of the children’s library, I’ve always had a book on the go.I read in all styles and genres and though these days I read more critically, seeing what works and what doesn’t has become an additional part of the pleasure.

I feel sorry for people who are unwilling or unable to access the infinite worlds contained between the covers of a book.

Today over 100,000 people are on the streets of Rangoon, more around the country. When protesters last marched in 1988, the military massacred thousands.

But this time it can be different--if only the world stands with the marchers. The United Nations summit starts today in New York. Let's raise an emergency global campaign, demanding they press the Burmese generals to negotiate rather than crush the demonstrators. We'll deliver it to Security Council members--particularly China's Hu Jintao, until now the military junta's protector--and to media at the UN this week.

For decades the Burmese dictatorship fought off pressure--imprisoning elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and democracy activists, wiping out thousands of villages in the provinces, bringing miseries from forced labour to refugee camps. One-third of children under 5 now suffer malnutrition; millions are down to one meal a day.

But last Tuesday Buddhist monks and nuns, overwhelmingly respected in Burma, began marching and chanting prayers. The protests spread--now they're growing by tens of thousands every day, as ordinary people join in. They've broken the chains of fear and given hope to 52 million Burmese.

However, this hope is hanging by a thread. While hesitating to attack the respected monks, the regime is reported to be organising violence. Demonstrators have already been beaten, shots have been fired.

This is one of those moments where the world can make the difference: standing shoulder to shoulder with the Burmese people, helping to shine a dissolving light on tyranny. Let's call on powers at the UN--in particular, China (next year's Olympics host)--to warn the generals that violence will have the gravest consequences, and the time has come for change.

People power is rising through the streets of Burma today. Let the demonstrators know the world is with them. Click to sign the petition, then tell everyone you know.

PS: The government has just threatened the monks--here's an Associated Press article:

And we've just heard this from the international Burma Campaign: the military has reportedly ordered a battalion of soldiers to shave their heads, pose as monks and operate as agents provocateurs. This might be the first first step towards a bloody crackdown. See here for more background.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

I tried to do my posh totty impersonation (always doomed to failure) ...... while Mel donned a Guantanamo orange jacket.

She said she looked like she'd been tango-ed.I said she looked gorgeous.

I love things like this on one level.All those people I'd never usually rub shoulders with ...All those conversations I'd never usually be able to eavesdrop on ...

Although I'd give anything for a cloak of invisibility.Oh to see without being seen ...

It was all achingly hip.But there was nowhere to sit that didn't have a hefty price tag, so I could only manage aching hips ...

It's a fascinating juxtaposition:30 Fuse designers exhibiting the Next Best Thing in lampshades, furniture, flying ducks and much more ...at Partridge Fine Arts- one of the most venerable antiques dealers out there.The future meets the past in the present.

As we gazed at our reflections in a huge ornate mirror (a snip at £550,000) we tried to work out what it would take to create a new record:Most damage done by 2 mildly pissed bloggers demonstrating the domino effect at an exclusive antiques gallery -ie if I tripped over this chair, fell onto this table which upended, sending that massive vase hurtling onto that mirror, which then crashed down onto this sideboard ...

Anyway, the exhibition continues to 25th September and entry is free so go and check it out.Carefully ...

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

A fictional blog you can help to shape, set in real time Manchester. Each week readers can vote on future plot direction, choosing between three possible developments in the story's next chapter. The final instalment will be performed live at the Manchester Blog Awards on Wednesday 10th October.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

'I'm always happy to do interviews; it's certainly better than being ignored. For the first 4 or 5 Rebus novels, hardly anyone took any notice. I would have died for attention.'

I happen to know that Rankin was very nearly dropped by his publisher at that point that he's talking about.

The first Rebus novel was published in 1987.As is obvious from the above quote, sales were slack and reviews scarce.This continued to be the case for the next few books in the series.

Fast forward 20 years - those early books are now considered collectors' items, the novels have won 4 Crime Writers' Association awards, Rankin won the Diamond Dagger in 2005 and World Book Crime Thriller of the Year Award this year, several of the books have been televised and he has been made an OBE and Scottish national treasure.

Consider this:If the first 2 books had been published in 2007 instead of 1987, none of the above would have happened.Once it was clear sales were not taking off big-time, Rankin would not be offered a subsequent deal by his publishers and would struggle to get anyone else to take him on.

Even though this same fate nearly befell him 20 years ago, fortunately there was still a vestige of feeling at that time that it can take an author several books before their career takes off.

Possibly the quirkiest coupling of this year’s London Design Festival is Partridge Fine Art’shosting of Fuse UK: Partridge is an established dealer in sought-after antiques, Fuse UK acollective of young and emerging design talent.

Around 30 Fuse product designers will be exhibiting at Partridge. Their pieces range from very beautiful lampshades made of re-cycled card and a maple and cherry sideboard, to a chair that collects the cash that drops from your pockets and flying ducks.